Her case
by Anushka
Summary: Sequel to Never, She knew and Familiar. Sara's case is reopened and she has to decide if she wants to testify. Catherine reads the case file without knowing it is about Sara. She confronts Sara. Pairing NS


**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of the characters. They belong to their creators. You may recognize characters from "Law and Order SVU". I don't own them either.

**A/N**: This story is a continuance from "**Never**, **Familiar **and **She knew**". I recommend reading those first. I do not have anything against Catherine, but all of you that have been writing fanfics must know that sometimes a story takes you down a certain road and you need a character playing a particular role and in this story Catherine is that particular person.

**Pairing**: N/S, because I'm a Snicker and don't really understand why CSI doesn't have more of a Sara/Nick storyline, because there is definitely chemistry between them. Well you never know what will happen in the future, but until then I will be writing N/S based stories:-)

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**Her case**

"You have to stop protecting her Gil!" Catherine said almost losing her temper. She was sick of it, it seemed like the CSI job description also contained "protecting Sara". Besides Gil's way of handling Sara, Warrick walked around as if he was her personal bodyguard or better her big brother and Nick was hovering over her afraid she would hurt herself while walking.

Grissom looked at Catherine wondering where her outburst had come from. "I'm not protecting her Cath, if you're honest you know that. I'm just wondering if it is such a good idea to send her to New York to testify to a rape case. You know she has issues with these cases. But that is besides the point, it doesn't matter what I think, the NYPD have requested her and they want her and not somebody else. They are sending detective Stabler over to talk to her."

"That's another thing I don't understand. Why do they want her? We have more experience and her track record says she has issues with rape cases."

"I have no idea Cath. I tried to get my hands on the case file, but it is a closed file." Grissom sighed feeling another headache coming up. "The only thing we can do is make sure she knows she can turn to us if she has any difficulties with this case, okay?"

Catherine wondered if she was hearing him correctly. Had he even been listening to her? "You know, Sara is a grown woman and she should take some responsibility for her actions and stop whining when things get difficult. She hasn't had the most difficult life!" Having said that Catherine stormed out of Grissom's office.

Nick who was passing by Grissom's office had heard Catherine's last remark. Shaking his head, he mumbled: "If you'd only know......."

Grissom was confused why Catherine had gotten so upset. These last months his relationship with Sara had gone from bad to worse. Their relationship had become especially strained after he accused her of talking to Mobley about his recommendation for the promotion. He had apologized to her, but it had hurt their relationship beyond repair. Maybe he could have repaired it if he wanted to, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. He was afraid to get hurt. He was a coward, he knew he was. He was surprised to notice though that Sara was doing very well. She was smiling a lot more these days, but those smiles were not directed at him. He missed her, he missed her a lot more than he was willing to admit. He wasn't protecting her. Catherine got it all wrong.

Nick entered the break room. He sat down next to Sara who was reading a forensics magazine.

"Hey, what ya reading?"

"Well since someone doesn't allow me to read forensics magazines at home, I need to read them during my very short breaks," she answered trying to suppress a smile, because she knew that wasn't entirely true. She loved spending time with Nick and when they were together she never had the urge to read a forensics magazine.

Nick loved her smile. He loved everything about her. They had decided to take things slow and sometimes it drove him crazy, but every time one of them woke up from a horrific nightmare he knew exactly why they made that decision. They needed to heal and they needed each other to do that, but they also knew that they could hurt each other when they would take things to the next level too fast. They needed to be ready and he knew that at this point neither of them was anywhere near ready.

"You okay?" He heard her say.

"Yeah, just thinking of you."

She cocked her head slightly observing him. She then put her arms around his neck and gave him a small but meaningful hug.

They heard someone clearing their throat. "Sara?" He asked.

Sara loosened herself from the embrace and looked past Nick before jumping up and rushing to the person standing in the doorway. "Elliot!" She said giving him a hug.

"What are you doing here?"

"Well, Olivia threatened that she would hurt me very badly if I wouldn't visit you and ask you when you were going to e-mail her back."

"Sounds like Liv, but I'm sure that's not the real reason why you are here."

She heard Nick move behind her and stepped out of the hug with Elliot.

"Nick, this is Elliott Stabler, one of my best friends at the NYPD. Elliot, this is my partner Nick Stokes. He is the one who keeps me sane."

"You mean he is the one all your e-mails are about?" Elliot said smiling brightly making Sara blush.

"Detective Stabler, I see you have found Sara." Grissom entered the break room followed by Catherine and Warrick.

"It's hard to forget how Sara looks like", Elliott responded. Seeing the confused faces surrounding him, he continued, "Sara and I know each other from way back when she used to work at the NYPD, so when we needed someone to testify we immediately thought of Sara. That's why I am here Sar, Captain Cragen send me here to talk to you about a case."

Elliot wasn't sure if Sara had told her co-workers what had happened to her. Knowing Sara, she probably hadn't. He remembered so clearly the day they found her, she didn't want to talk to anyone. He still got sick to his stomach when he thought about it. Olivia, his partner and Sara's best friend, had been the one Sara finally opened up to. Those two were so alike. It was scary sometimes. They had a special connection and that's why his boss hadn't send Olivia to Las Vegas with him to talk to Sara. He knew that he would be able to lay out the story without pushing Sara and without getting too emotional. He now wondered if he would be able to tell her about the case without breaking down, but he knew he had to be strong for her.

"I'm sure you can tell us some nice stories about Sara from when she was working in NY?" Warrick said smiling at Sara.

"Nah, just that I spend two years chasing her. She never gave in though, maybe I can get her to go out on a date with me while I am here."

"How long are you staying, Elliot?" Sara asked him trying to turn the conversation away from herself.

"That depends on when I can talk with you about this case. I guess Cragen wants me back as soon as I have talked to you. We have been swamped the last couple of weeks and me leaving to Las Vegas doesn't help."

"You two can use one of the conference rooms. It has been a slow night. I'm sure Nick can finish up the case Sara and he were working on," Grissom offered looking at the both of them.

Sara nodded while glancing at Nick letting him know she would be alright. "Let me lead the way."

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_Conference room_

"So what's this case about and why do you want my expert knowledge," Sara said looking at Elliot.

"Sara, there is no easy way to tell you this but we have reopened your case. A month ago a 20 year old student was viciously attacked. CSI NY found DNA traces from the perpetrator on the victim and they ran the results through the database. Your case was a hit. Sara, we've got him this time."

"No, I don't understand. This can't be happening."

She had worked so hard to push away her fears. When they closed her case, she had decided she had to come to terms with the fact they would never find him. All the feelings she had about what happened came rushing back to the surface. She didn't want to feel them, she wanted them to stay where they were, stored away, far away.

Elliot continued: "His new victim survived the attack and identified him. We have a strong case. We didn't want to tell you until we were sure he was your attacker as well."

"But why do you need me, I don't understand. You of all people know what this has done to me. Why couldn't you just leave me alone?"

She didn't want to cry, she couldn't let herself cry, but tears were running freely by now.

"Something has come up, Sar, something unexpected. We have a strong case, but he claims she stayed with him voluntarily, that it got rough and he just lost control, but that she didn't mind. Even though we have character witnesses saying she wasn't the type of girl who would go with someone she'd just met, we want to make sure that he doesn't slip away. We need to make sure he gets punished for what he has done to this girl and to you."

"I can't do this, Elliot, I can't go through this again. I just can't. I'm very sorry but I don't think I will be able to do this."

Sara got up and left Elliot sitting in the conference room.

"I don't blame you," Elliot whispered looking at the case file in front of him.

Catherine had been passing by the conference room and heard Sara's last words. "And once again it is all about Sara" she thought getting all angry again.

Elliot knew Sara probably needed time to think it all over. He would try talking to her later and walked towards the break room not realizing he left the case file in the conference room. He wasn't going to push her no matter what the DA said. He wasn't going to do that to her.

Catherine passed the conference room again on her way to the DNA lab when she saw something lying on the table. They couldn't have case files just laying around, so she walked up to the table when she noticed the NYPD stamp on the file. This was the case Sara had to testify to. She knew she wasn't allowed to read it, but curiosity got the better of her.

Sara had gone to the roof to calm down. She knew that testifying was the right thing to do. Hitting someone until they are in a coma couldn't be called "things got rough" no matter how you twisted the facts. If she testified he probably would get convicted, if she didn't things could go either way. But she wasn't sure she was strong enough. She needed Nick. She needed his arms around her, telling her it would be okay.

When she entered the lab, she realized she had left Elliot in the conference room all by himself. She knew he would never hurt her. He would let her make her own decision. That was probably why they had sent him to talk to her. She needed to go and find him.

She entered the conference room when she saw Catherine sitting there reading something.

"Hey, have you seen Eliott?"

Catherine looked up at her. Hatred was etched on her face.

"Sara, how can you not testify? How can you let him get away with what he did to those women? I know you just don't want to get involved and that's why you don't want to work rape cases anymore, because it is all too hard for little fragile Sara. You can't be that selfish, can you? I can't believe you."

Sara felt like Catherine had just slapped her across the face. She just stood there nailed to the ground. Trying to register what had happened.

"She can't have read the case file," Sara thought trying to make sense of what was happening. Breathing was getting harder, it was like she was suffocating. Far away she still heard Catherine yelling at her.

Nick heard someone yelling across the hall. When he neared the conference room a little group of people had already gathered in front of the room. He realized it was Catherine who was yelling. Then he saw Sara standing in the room as well, she didn't look well. She looked pale and frightened. He pushed himself passed the other people when he heard Catherine yell: "Do you know how it feels like when you get raped and almost beaten to death. Try to imagine, maybe then you will find it in your heart to testify!"

"Catherine back off, I mean it, back off," Nick yelled while he pushed her out of the way desperately trying to get to Sara. As soon as he got to her, she collapsed on the floor, sobbing.

"Sara, sweetie, just look at me, look at me. You have to look at me."

"Nick, I. Can't. Breath."

"Sara, breath with me okay? Look at me and breath with me."

After a while he felt her breathing get normal again, but she hadn't stopped crying.

"Sara, what happened here?"

"She has read it all, all of it. Every detail what happened to me. Oh my God, she read all of it."

Catherine wasn't sure if she heard correctly what Sara was saying. It couldn't be true. She was feeling sick all of a sudden. She hadn't paid attention to the names of the two victims, she wasn't even sure they were in the case file. Could it be true? Was Sara one of the victims? She felt someone coming up behind her. She turned around seeing Grissom standing along side Elliot Stabler. Someone must have warned them.

"Catherine, go home," Grissom said sternly.

"But I have to...."

"No, you have done enough. Now go home before you make things worse."

Gil didn't even look her in the eyes. How could she ever make it up to Sara? She dropped her head and left the conference room.

Grissom saw Nick sitting on the floor holding Sara, softly talking to her. He wanted to go up to them. He badly wanted to be in Nick's place. Holding her, comforting her. He felt guilty having those feelings when Sara looked like her whole world just crashed down on her. He couldn't help it though. He was lost in his thoughts when he heard detective Stabler saying they should leave them alone. He didn't want to leave her, but he knew it was the right thing to do.

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They just sat on the floor of the conference room for what seemed like hours. Her tears mingled with his.

"Nicky, can you take me home?" Sara pleadingly asked him.

"Sure sweetheart, let me go and tell Grissom I'm taking you home."

"Nicky, can you take the case file with you. I want them to know. They need to know. They are my friends and I have pushed them away. It's not fair to them. And please tell Elliot I will testify."

"Sara, are you sure about this? You don't need to rush things. Why don't you take your time to decide what you want to do?"

"There is no time. The trial starts in two weeks and I need to do this. If I don't I will regret it for the rest of my life."

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_A month later.........._

"Hey, guys we got a letter from Sara," Warrick said while walking into the break room.

Catherine still felt guilty. She didn't have a chance to talk to Sara before she left to NY and Grissom had been giving her the silent treatment.

Warrick started reading the letter out loud.

_Dear friends,_

_I wanted to write you each a separate letter, but Nick has been bugging me to take him sightseeing now the trial is over, so I don't have much time since he has made a long list with what he wants to go and visit. You probably all heard that my attacker got convicted to a life sentence in jail. I can't start telling you how relieved I am. Being here has giving me the chance to really start healing. I'm not there yet, but I have come a long way already. _

_To Catherine,_

_Please don't feel guilty. It's all forgiven even though I don't feel I have to forgive you for anything, because you actually helped me. Sometimes you need some distance from the situation to see things more clear and being in New York has given me that opportunity. We may not always agree with each other, but that is okay. Real friends also fight and I consider you a real friend. I need to say this to you, because I need us to start with a clean slate when I come back._

_To Warrick and Greg,_

_Sorry guys, no separate messages for the both of you:-) I love you both so much. Thank you for all the cards, letters and phone calls (even when you didn't check the time in NY before calling). I'm sorry I never confided in you, but I guess I didn't even confide in myself. I pushed everything that happened away. Nick says "hi". He misses you, he says, but not that much:-)_

_To Grissom,_

_First of all thank you for letting Nick come with me. I couldn't have done this without him. I want to thank you for so many things. I cannot start to explain how big an influence you have been in my life. I hope we can start working on our friendship when I come back. I have missed that, I've missed you. I don't know how we drifted so far apart. I guess the fact that we are so much alike caused it. I'm confident though that we will be okay soon again. _

_Looking forward to seeing all of you soon again!_

_Love,_

_Sara (and Nick)_

**END**

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**A/N: **So what did you think? Please let me know if you have the time:-) 


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